Seeing Through the Glass

It may seem silly, but I am truly thankful to God for contact lenses. Since I got my first pair at age 13 (for softball, supposedly, though that was my last season participating in anything that resembled a sport), I have never been seen in public sporting the four-eyed look. In fact, I have not bothered to even own a backup pair of glasses for the last decade; I just put my "eyes" in as soon as I get up, and take them out right before bed. This system was working wonderfully until I got an eye infection last winter and had to spend a weekend in relative blindness. Since then, I have realized that despite my distaste for spectacles, there may be some wisdom in owning a properly prescribed pair.

It took me until summer to see an eye doctor for a prescription and until New Year's to look into filling it, but it is finally done. I bookmarked Zenni Optical after reading about their incredibly affordable glasses on another blog, and I am so glad that I did! Not only are their prices unbeatable, but they even have software on the website so that you can upload a picture of yourself and "try on" hundreds of frames. Don and I each spent an hour or so narrowing down our choice of frames based on size, shape, color, and cost. Don didn't believe me at first that the $12 to $15 price tags were for more than the frames, but when we realized that the low prices also include lenses, a plastic case, and a cleaning cloth, we decided that we would each get two pairs! At that price, in case one pair didn't fit properly or look as fantastic as it did in the virtual fitting room, it was worth ordering a second. And believe it or not, we had four pairs of brand new prescription glasses to shipped to us for only $50!

After a couple weeks of waiting, our glasses finally arrived. Amazingly, all four pairs fit and seem to be just as high quality as the hundred-dollar ones we could get at the mall. Besides the fact that I don't find glasses particularly flattering, it was a strange feeling for me to put them on after all these years. Goodbye, peripheral vision; hello, motion sickness. The sensation that the world is moving up and down as I walk looking through the lenses is a bit unsettling for someone who normally forgets that she lacks 20/20 vision. Contacts are like a correction for my eyes; glasses are a foreign piece of hardware. Still, I am thankful to have acquired such useful (and relatively stylish) hardware for so little cost!

And how much more thankful am I that though my flesh may fail and my eyes are weak, my God is unfailing and His vision is perfect. Without contacts, glasses, or any help from me, He watches over all His creation, and gives good gifts to His children where He sees fit.

The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, 

keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

Proverbs 15:3